Blast furnace stockline protective device and a method of assembling the same



June 13, 1967 J. c. s. GINDER 3,325,158

BLAST FURNACE STOCKLINE PROTECTIVE DEVICE AND A METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAME Filed June 5, 1964 3 Sheets-5heet l 5 46 5 7 57 44 44 I 28 1 I 1 q 28 I /2 v 42 4 3 e U 1 j l Z 6 L o I I I] 'l] f f I 11 I R I M 1 -fi UVVENTOR JOHN G. S. Gl/VDER y Affarney J. C. S. GINDER TOCKLINE PROT June 13. 1967 BLAST FURNACE S ECTIVE DEVICE! AN A METHOD OE ASSEMBLING THE SAME 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 5 1 LI Il YMV lNVE/VTOR JOHN C. .5. Gl/VDEI? By W W .4 Homer June 13. 1967 c. s. GENDER 3,325,158

J. BLAST FURNACE STOCKLINE PROTECTIVE DEVICE AND A METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAME Filed June 5 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 A fforn ey United States Patent 3,325,158 BLAST FURNACE STGCKLINE PRGTECTIVE DE- VICE AND A METHOD 01 ASSEMBLING Til-IE SAME John C. S. Ginder, Poland, ()hio, assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed June 3, 1964, Ser. No. 372,274 4 Claims. (Cl. 266-27) This invention relates to blast furnace stockline protective device and to a method of assembling the same. In an iron producing blast furnace the charge materials or burden enter the furnace from the main hopper by lowering the main bell. Thus, charge materials strike the inner walls of the blast furnace adjacent the stockline area. In order to protect the refractory or brick work of the blast furnace wall, metallic wearing plates are embedded in the brick work or are attached to the framework in a suitable manner. However, these wear plates often do not last the life of the furnace and must be replaced to prevent erosion of the furnace wall. Erosion of the furnace wall affects the distribution of the burden in the furnace with resultant poor performance of the furnace. To replace these wearing plates, it is necessary to shut down the blast furnace which requires emptying it of its burden and removing the complex structure and mechanism for charging the burden into the furnace.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide blast furnace stockline wearing plates which can be replaced without removing the burden below the stockline area and without removing any of the top structure or charging mechanism of the furnace.

Another object is to provide a method of inserting the wearing plates into the furnace without removing the burden below the stockline and without removing any of the top structure or charging mechanism of the furnace.

These and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view showing the top of a blast furnace with my invention incorporated therein;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional View of the top of a blast furnace showing steps in the practice of the method of my invention;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view of the top of a blast furnace showing another step in the practice of the method of my invention;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a metallic wear plate; and

FIGURE 5 is a view showing a detail of my invention.

Referring more particularlyto the drawings, reference numeral 2 indicates the vertical wall of a blast furnace which provides a chamber 4 for receiving the charge materials which normally extend to stockline 6. Abrasive resistant wearing plates 8 are provided in the wall 2 adjacent the stockline 6. A dome 16 is mounted on top of the vertical wall 2 and supports a main bell hopper 12. A main bell 14 is suspended within the hopper 12by means of bell rod 16. A gas seal 18 is mounted on top of dome 10. Small bell hopper 20 is mounted on top of the gas seal 18 and small bell 22 is supported within the hopper 20 by means of small bell rod 24. A trolley beam 26 is mounted adjacent the top of the furnace. The parts so far described are conventional.

According to my invention I provide a plurality of tubes 28 which are spaced around the periphery of dome and extend vertically therethrough. A plurality of arcuate plates 30, preferably made of an abrasive resistant alloy steel, extend around the periphery of chamber 4 a short distance below the bottom of the hopper 12 and bell 14. The plates have three spaced holes 32, 34 and 36 therethrough adjacent the top thereof. Each of the outer holes 32 and 36 receives a shackle 38 which is connected to an alloy steel chain 40. It will be understood that other flexible members could be substituted for the steel chains 4%. The upper end of the chain 40 is attached to an eyebolt 42 which extends through the associated sleeve 28. A split washer 44 is welded together on the top of tube 28 and nuts 46 threaded on the top of eyebolt 42 bear against washer 44 so as to prevent downward movement of the associated plate 30.

When it is necessary to replace plates 30, the stockline is permitted to drop slightly and the nuts 46 are unthreaded from the eyebolts 42 thus permitting the plates 30, the chains 40 and the eyebolts 42 to drop into the furnace. The washers 44 are also removed. A sheave 48 is suspended from the trolley beam 226 and a wire rope or cable 50 is connected by means of a shackle 52 to a new plate 3%] by means of a pin 54 passing through hole 34. The other end of the rope 50 is attached to a winch, not shown, and the plate 30 is raised to a position adjacent hole 56 in the gas seal 18. Four such holes are provided around the periphery of the seal 18 and are of such size as to pass a plate 30 therethrough. As shown the holes 56 include a slotted portion 57. A second wire rope 58 is then attached to the plate 31) at the shackle 52 and the rope passed through the hole 56 adjacent the plate 30 and through the hole 56 diametrically opposed to the first hole 56 where it passes over a sheave 60 to a winch, not shown. By means of the second cable 58 the plate 30 is pulled over in line with the hole 56 adjacent thereto and the plate 3h is lowered through the hole 56 onto the top of main bell 14. The plate 30 is shown in three of its positions in FIGURE 2. Two assemblies, each consisting of a shackle 38, chain 46, eyebolt 42 and nuts 46, are attached to the plate 30 at holes 32 and 36. This may be done either on the ground. or after the plate 30 is positioned on the bell 14. A pair of assemblies 62, each consisting of a wire rope 64 and an. internally threaded connector 66, are lowered through two adjacent sleeves 28 with the connector 66 first. The bell 14 is then lowered slightly to provide a peripheral opening between the hopper and the bell. A workman standing on the bell 14, wearing a gas mask and tied with a safety line, pulls the assemblies 62 in any suitable amnner such as by means of a hook tong or magnet into the hopper 12 above the bell 14. The connector 66 is then threaded onto the eyebolts 42. The bell 14 is then lowered so that the plate 30 with attachments can be lowered below the bell 14, this step being shown in FIGURE 3. The lowering is done by means of rope 58 which passes over sheave 67 attached to hell rod 16 and sheave 60 to a winch, not shown. The ropes 64 are attached to winches, not shown, and are pulled upwardly with the connector 66 passing through the associated tubes 28 until the upper end of the eyebolts 42 are above the tubes 28. A split washer 44 is then placed around each of the eyebolts under the nuts 46 and the parts welded together. The rope attached to the center hole of the plate 3%) is removed in any convenient manner such as by severing it below the bell. The above described operations are then repeated until the full complement of plates 30 are arranged around the wall 2 as shown in FIGURE 1.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a blast furnace having a vertical wall providing a chamber for receiving charge materials, a dome mounted on top of said vertical wall, a main bell hopper supported by said dome, and a main bell within said main bell hopper from which charge material enters the chamber, the improvement comprising a plurality of arcuate plates in said plates from said dome, said suspending means including a pair of vertical tubes above each of said plates supported by and extending through said dome, a bolt extending through each of said tubes, means preventing downward movement of said bolt, and an elongated member having one end attached to the bottom of the associated bolt and the other end attached to the associated plate.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the means preventing downward movement of said bolt includes a washer on the top of each tube through wihch the associated bolt passes and a nut threaded on said associated bolt above said washer, and the elongated member is a chain.

3. In a blast furnace having a vertical wall providing a chamber for receiving charge materials, a dome mounted on top of said vertical wall, a plurality of spaced apart vertical tubes supported by and extending through said dome around the periphery thereof, a main bell hopper supported by said dome, a main bell within said main bell hopper from which charge material enters the chamber, and a gas seal mounted on top of said dome, said gas seal having a hole therethrough; the method of assembling stockline wearing plates within said chamber which comprises providing an arcuate plate, attaching a first flexible elongated member to said plate, lowering said plate through the hole in the gas seal onto the top of said main bell, providing a pair of assemblies each including a bolt and a heat resistant flexible member having one end attached to said bolt, attaching, the second end of each of said heat resistant flexible members to said arcuate plate at two spaced points adjacent the top thereof, providing a pair of assemblies each including a flexible member and a threaded connector attached to one end thereof, lowering said main bell to provide a peripheral opening between said bell and hopper, passing one of said last named assemblies through one of said tubes with the connector first, then passing said last mentioned assembly through said peripheral opening and threading one of said bolts into said connector, passing the other of said last named pair of assemblies through an adjacent tube with the connector first, then passing said last mentioned assembly through said peripheral opening and threading the other of said bolts into the connector of the last mentioned assembly, then lowering said plate through said peripheral opening, then pulling said last named pair of assemblies up through their associated tubes until the connectors are above the associated tubes, placing an abutment on the top of each of said associated tubes beneath a nut on the bolt to prevent downward movement of said first named pair of assemblies, removing said first named flexible member and said second named pair of assemblies, and then repeating said operations to position additional arcuate plates.

4. In a blast furnace having a vertical wall providing a chamber for receiving charge materials, a dome mounted on top of said vertical wall, a plurality of spaced apart vertical tubes supported by and extending through said dome around the periphery thereof, a main bell hopper supported by said dome, a main bell within said main bell hopper from which charge material enters the chamber, and a gas seal mounted on top of said dome, said gas seal having holes therethrough spaced apart around the periphery thereof; the method of assembling stockline wearing plates within said chamber which comprises providing an arcuate plate having three spaced apart holes therethrough adjacent the top thereof, attaching a first flexible elongated member to said plate at the center hole thereof, attaching a second flexible elongated member to said plate adjacent the first flexible elongated member with the second flexible elongated member extending through one of the holes in the gas seal, lowering said plate through another of the holes in the gas seal onto the top of said main bell, providing a pair of assemblies each including a bolt and a heat resistant flexible member having one end attached to said bolt, attaching the second end of each of said heat resistant flexible members to said arcuate plate at the outer holes thereof, providing a pair of assemblies each including a flexible member and a threaded connector attached to one end thereof, lowering said main bell to provide a peripheral opening between said bell and hopper, passing one of said last named assemblies through one of said tubes with the connector first, then passing said last mentioned assembly through said peripheral opening and threading one of said bolts into said connector, passing the other of said last named pair of assemblies through an adjacent tube with the connector first, then passing said last mentioned assembly through said peripheral opening and threading the other of said bolts into the connector of the last mentioned assembly, then lowering said plate through said peripheral opening, then pulling said last named pair of assemblies up through their associated tubes until the connectors are above the associated tubes, placing an abutment on the top of each of said associated tubes beneath a nut on the associated bolt to prevent downward movement of said first named pair of assemblies, removing said first and second named flexible members and said second named pair of assem blies, and then repeating said operations to position additional arcuate plates.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,460,429 7/1923 Moran 266-27 2,710,747 6/1955 Shea 266-25 3,009,691 11/ 1961 Tsujihata et al. 26331 3,253,823 5/1966 Junker et a1 26625 JOHN F. CAMPBELL, Primary Examiner.

CHARLIE T. MOON, Examiner.

M. L. FAIGUS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A BLAST FURNACE HAVING A VERTICAL WALL PROVIDING A CHAMBER FOR RECEIVING CHARGE MATERIALS, A DOME MOUNTED ON TOP OF SAID VERTICAL WALL, A MAIN BELL HOPPER SUPPORTED BY SAID DOME, AND A MAIN BELL WITHIN SAID MAIN BELL HOPPER FROM WHICH CHARGE MATERIAL ENTERS THE CHAMBER, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF ARCUATE PLATES IN SAID CHAMBER EXTENDING AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID CHAMBER A SHORT DISTANCE BELOW THE BOTTOM OF SAID HOPPER TO PROTECT THE INSIDE OF SAID VERTICAL WALL FROM ABRASION BY SAID CHARGE MATERIAL, AND MEANS FOR SUSPENDING SAID PLATES FROM SAID DOME, SAID SUSPENDING MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF VERTICAL TUBES ABOVE EACH OF SAID PLATES SUPPORTED BY AND EXTENDING THROUGH SAID DOME, A BOLT EXTENDING THROUGH EACH OF SAID TUBES, MEANS PREVENTING DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID BOLT, AND AN ELONGATED MEMBER HAVING ONE END ATTACHED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE ASSOCIATED BOLT AND THE OTHER END ATTACHED TO THE ASSOCIATED PLATE. 